


Claustrophobia

by Koszmar



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Finn never falls for Clarke, Gen, Octavia Blake & Clarke Griffin are Best Friends, Slow Burn Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, The Ark isn't dying, What would happen if Clarke rescued Octavia from being caught
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-06-10 18:39:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6969580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koszmar/pseuds/Koszmar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Ark isn't dying, but Octavia's spirit is. Bellamy still takes his sister to the dance, but instead of them being found out and her sent to prison, Clarke Griffin saves the day. Friendships are forged and attraction is apparent, but what happens when Octavia isn't satisfied with her single night out? With a new friend and an awoken sense of adventure, it's only a matter of time before the authorities in charge of the Ark realize there's an unaccounted person on board.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
> 
> I'm notorious for not finishing crap, especially considering I'm working on original projects at the moment that take priority. That stated, this idea hit me today and I just HAD to write it out. I can't promise that I'll finish, even though I know how I'd like this all to end, so if you do decide to read on I almost hope you hate it so that I don't disappoint anyone. Seriously though I don't really want you to hate it, but second warning: this is all rough draft, no beta-reader quality material, plus I may or may not be drinking while writing so I'll ask that you please forgive typos and grammatical errors.
> 
> Thank you!

Everything started that night, the night when Bellamy took a risk for his sister, the night he wanted to open her world to more than four walls and a space beneath the floor. The Union Day Masquerade Dance; it was a night meant as a gift for Octavia, a night of freedom and fancy, a night where she could stretch both her legs, both literally and proverbially. It was also the night that everything changed, and not just for Bellamy and Octavia; for all of them.

He’d watched her from the doorway, watched her dance and come alive with a fresh breath filled entirely of new experience and it gave his heart a bittersweet ache. Bellamy was happy, _beyond_ happy to see his sister have this one night but another part of him, that part he tried so hard to avoid felt nothing but sadness for her. It would be back to those four walls after tonight, back to hiding beneath the floor and pretending she didn’t exist. He knew she deserved this night, but what would it cost her? What would cost to finally know what was out there only to know it was beyond her reach? The warring emotions were a constant fatigue on his soul, but he bore them with a smile as he watched Octavia dance and interact with people unrelated to her. It was the most beautiful moment in his life, second only to her birth.

Then the music cut off and the nightmare began. “Solar flare alert. An X-Class solar flare as begun on the starboard side of the ark. All citizens must report to the nearest shelter zone immediately.”

Bellamy spotted his sister, twirling in the mayhem as she sought his face in the crowd. It was something she’d never had to do before, something she’d never had to anticipate and the panic was clear on her face. He rushed to her side and grabbed her wrist.

“This is not a test. This is a solar flare alert.” The overhead speakers blared just as he grabbed her, pulling her toward the nearest exit with his heart thudding against his rib-cage, panic clawing up his esophagus.

Then he saw the guards and twirled them away, back toward the middle of the room again. “Bell, I need to get home!” His own panic was echoed in her voice.

“You will.” It was a promise; not one he wanted to keep, not one he could even assure to keep; it was one he _needed_ to keep; his sister, his responsibility.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you know the drill.” A voice at his back called out. “Masks off. I.D. chips out.” They were the most terrifying words he’d ever heard.

“Bell, what do we do?” Octavia asked, looking to him for answers; for protection. He couldn’t fail her.

“Listen to me. Whatever happens, you get back home and get under the floor.” He would do whatever was necessary to make sure she could slip out. “You’ll be safe there from the flares, like always.”

“What are you gonna do?” She asked, fear shining from her eyes behind the mask that had been meant to protect her.

His eyes darted around the room at her question, searching for her answer. “Create a distraction,” he tells her, finding it. “Go on.”

“Bell,” Octavia called out, drawing his attention before he could do something worthy of being floated. “How do I get home?”

Their eyes met and Bellamy’s heart dropped. She couldn’t find her way home from here. Of course she couldn’t. A million criticisms flared up in his mind: how could he have been so stupid; how could he have not had a backup plan; how could he have forgotten to draw a map for her; why’d he think this was a good idea; how could he have fucked everything up so badly?

“Cadet Blake.” The same voice from before called out, the voice that had demanded masks off and I.D.s out, but all Bellamy could do was stare at his sister and sink into a pit of his own failures as Octavia looked to him with terror in her eyes, waiting for him to keep her safe like he always promised he would do. “Why is your weapon out?” They both turned, just in time for Lieutenant Shumway to pull Octavia’s mask down. “Mask off.”

“Sir, she’s—” Bellamy stuttered, the entire landscape of their lives rolling out in front of him like some beautiful tapestry just dosed in fuel and set on fire. He’d ruined everything.

“There you are!” A girl’s voice called out, just behind Octavia. When Bellamy turned he found the face of a princess, though not a princess in the storybook-beautiful-true-love sort of way. It was more like the princess and the pea of entitlement standing there, blonde haired and blue eyed, smiling like she belonged in his world as she put a hand on his sister’s shoulder and smiled up at Lieutenant Shumway before catching Octavia’s eye. “Come stand with me for the security check and let these guys do their job.”

Shumway glanced back and forth between the two girls before diverting his attention back to Bellamy. “Your weapon Cadet; _why_ is it out?”

“S—sorry sir,” he stumbled over the words, trying to collect himself as Clarke Griffin led his sister away, sparing only a single backwards glance before she guided the girl out of the room and into the hall out of sight, “thought I saw somebody starting a situation.”

“Then either correct the situation or holster that shock baton.”

Bellamy dared one last glance to the direction his sister had gone in but she was nowhere to be seen. He swallowed the knot in his throat and nodded, putting his baton back in place. “Yes sir."


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke helps Octavia escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fresh off the press. Literally just finished writing this and I'm 6 shots of Crown & coke in. I should probably wait to post this, but I like to live dangerously.

If you would have asked Clarke what the hell she was doing at that moment she would have stared at you like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck, neither of which she’d ever seen before but the expression wasn’t exactly unheard of. She’d been dancing with Wells, the two of them having joined her dad on a trip over to the factory station, enjoying herself and minding her own damn business when a solar flare alarm ended the party prematurely. It figured, but it wasn’t the end of the world. The party would pick up again after the flare passed.

She pulled down her mask and crossed her arms, waiting for the I.D. check when a guard rushed past, bumping her shoulder and dragging a masked girl behind him by the wrist. Clarke let out an annoyed huff, only for him to double the insult when he turned on his heel and went back the way he came, both of them bumping into her this time.

“Excuse me!” She griped, only to realize neither of them was listening to her as they crowded near a wall.

Feeling a bit affronted by their rudeness and curious about their rush Clarke stepped closer, if not to get an apology than to at least find out what the hurry was. The man was a guard after all, but when she overheard their conversation something in her stomach grew heavy and cold. She heard voices filled with fear and anxiety, neither of which something as routine as a solar flare could explain. Something else was happening; something serious.

“—under the floor.” Clarke caught, pausing with her back to them just to listen in without drawing any attention. “You’ll be safe there from the flares, like always.” The guard promised, but that made no sense. Why would anyone need to go under a floor to be safe from flares? Were these flares worse than she—?

“What are you gonna do?” The girl asked, interrupting those thoughts.

“Create a distraction.” Clarke’s heart sped at the confession and the sudden sound of an electric current going live, knowing now that something was deeply wrong with this situation and that it had nothing to do with the solar flares. “Go on,” the guard urged.

“Bell,” a pause, “how do I get home?”

Clarke may have lived a privileged life, but she had deep stores of empathy and more than her fair share of edification to understand that in just a few seconds time, somebody would be in trouble and it would likely be the mysterious girl with fear lacing her every word, as well as the guard trying to protect her. From what, she didn’t know, but the desperation in the girls’ voice was already enough to tug at Clarke’s heartstrings, and the guard’s dedication to saving this stranger sealed the deal even if she didn’t understand the whole situation. She didn’t know them, didn’t know what the problem was or why it was so dire, but Clarke knew she’d step in if needed. It was just her nature; she  _fixed_  things whenever possible.

“What’s going on?” Wells asked, following after her with a confused frown. He already had his mask off and I.D. out; he was a good man that followed the rules, but she knew he could bend them just as swiftly in the right circumstances. She wouldn’t drag him into this with her, but she wasn’t afraid of him seeing anything either. He would never betray her.

She shushed him in order to listen in as a Lieutenant neared the guard. “Cadet Blake,” the higher rank revealed. Strike that then, Clarke revised; a  _cadet_  guard. “Why is your weapon out?” Fabric scraped on skin. “Mask off.”

Glancing over her shoulder, she could see the Lieutenant staring at the two, waiting for an answer from the wide-eyed cadet while the girl clutched at her mask as if its removal had signaled the end of life. “Sir, she’s—”

That’s when Clarke, as usual, let her body move before her brain. She ignored Wells as he tried to ask what was wrong again, turning instead to put a hand on the mystery girl’s shoulder. “There you are!” She chirped, her voice several octaves higher than usual as they hung from nerves on high alert while her mind struggled to catch up with her actions, struggling to come up with a plan of some sort. “Come stand with me for the security check and let these guys do their job.”

Her face felt tight as she smiled at the Lieutenant but Clarke kept to the course, pulling the girl with her as she turned and moved away. “Hey,” Wells kept pace for a few steps, his frown even deeper than before, “who’s this? What’s going on?”

“Go wait for the security check Wells,” she all but snarled, not sure where she was going or why, only knowing in her gut that time was of the essence. “I’ll be right back.”

As predicted, Wells stopped short as she led the girl to the back of the room then out the door as the other guards eyed the armed cadet in anticipation of trouble. As soon as they were past them she quickened their pace, only glancing over her shoulder once before she spurred them into a jog. “Hurry.”

She could hear the girl’s footsteps slapping against the floor right behind her, first around one corner, then another. “Where are we going?” She asked, panting from behind. “And who _are_ you?”

It wasn’t until they were several halls away that she let them stop, trying to catch her own breath as she turned to examine the girl at long last. “I’m Clarke,” she breathed out, taking in the long dark hair and eyes set in a face so innocent it seemed criminal. “And I have no idea where we’re going.” She couldn’t help but laugh as she clutched at a side stitch, the absurdity of the situation momentarily dawning on her. What the hell was she doing? “Don’t suppose you know where we need to go, do you?” The girl shook her head and Clarke just coughed out another laugh. “Right; well, as long as we stay away from the outer corridors we should be fine from the flares.” She took in a deep breath, straightening up. “So what’s your name?”

“Octavia.” The girl answered as they both finished regaining their breaths. “Octavia Blake.”

“Hi. Look. I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in or why, but you seem like a nice girl and that cadet—”

“Bellamy.”

“Bellamy—he seems to really care.” There was an awkward silence between them that stretched out for several seconds before Octavia grinned, stopping Clarke from asking another question as she started to laugh and look back the way they came.

“I’ve never run like that before.” Octavia admitted, looking back to Clarke with the most impassioned expression and flushed cheeks. “That was amazing.”

Unsure of what to say, Clarke merely crinkled her nose and smiled, more curious than ever before about who this person was and why they’d wanted to avoid a security check. “Okay well, since you don’t know where you need to go, let’s find someplace to stash you so I can go find Bellamy and bring him to you after the flares are through. Sound okay?” She sincerely hoped the girl wasn’t just some escaped juvie.

Octavia gave a nod, her smile so large that Clarke wasn’t sure it could ever be dimmed. It was that smile, that enthusiasm, that kept her from asking any more questions. She liked the girl, despite everything, and she would get her answers eventually, one way or another. They ended up hiding out in a janitor’s closet until the overhead speakers announced an end to the solar flares, after which Clarke stood and pressed a hand to the door.

“Wait.” Octavia whispered. “Do I need to stay here?”

“Unless you know how to get back to your apartment?” Clarke answered, throwing a look over her shoulder to find the girl hugging herself, their wait tempering whatever excitement she’d had before.

“I don’t.” It was a sad response, but it only strengthened Clarke’s resolve to find the cadet and figure things out.

“Then wait here. I’ll be back with Bellamy in a just a little while.” She smiled. “I promise.”

Just before she closed the door on Octavia she heard the girl whisper “thanks,” and that was all she needed to know that she’d made the right choice, even if the girl  _was_  an escaped felon. Clarke had never really considered the people in lock up before just then, and if this girl belonged there then she’d do what she could to prevent her from going back. 


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy is reunited with Octavia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, no drinking and writing tonight for me, but I'm almost loath to admit that just in case the quality is unchanged or, god forbid, worse altogether! At any rate, I'll try to keep these updates short so I can do them more frequently, and I'm gonna try really hard to keep each one to a specific POV for the most part.
> 
> Oh, also, I beg your forgiveness for any random tense changes. I never had this problem in the past, but one of my original projects is set in present tense and sometimes it creeps in without me realizing it now. I really hope that isn't a permanent thing -_-

Bellamy thought he knew what stress was before tonight. He thought it was hurrying Octavia into the space beneath the floor seconds before inspection. He thought it was lying to his commanders and teachers and friends and co-workers. He thought it was losing sleep over the idea of his sister getting left alone in this place, stuck beneath the floor boards until death if anything ever happened to him and their mom. None of those stresses and worries compared to tonight however, and with every step he took while he paced the length of the room, his eyes darted up to the exit his sister had escaped through.

Where was she? Was she okay? Did the princess from Alpha station turn her in for a reward, or was she waiting to blackmail him for something special. Everyone wanted a guard in their pocket, and while he wasn’t one yet, he would be eventually. Each step brought on a new conspiracy, every one worse than the next until Clarke’s face appeared in the hallway, her eyes meeting with his. She was alone. Bellamy’s heart skipped a beat.

The party was already picking back up again, none of the guards hanging around for long after the security check, so it wasn’t difficult to slip his way through the milling crowd of preoccupied teenagers and make it out to the hall. He fought off the urge to pull his weapon and threaten her, an assortment of awful scenarios playing through his mind as she stepped forward to meet him.

“Where’s my—” His tongue jammed up just in time to keep from making the situation worse, although he wasn’t sure if his sister had told this girl anything by mistake. It might have been too late, but he wasn’t going to take that risk. “Octavia. Where is she?”

Clarke frowned, but Bellamy was sure she’d never figure out what he’d almost let slip even if she knew he was holding something back. “Octavia’s safe,” was all she shared.

“Well that’s good to know but  _where the hell is she_?” He didn’t have time for any vague games of who’s the better bullshitter. Either this girl had to tell him what she wanted in exchange for his sister, or she needed to just give Octavia back and get out of his way.

He eyed the fair blonde as she seemed to decide what to say next. Bellamy got ready for the worst, but instead she only answered, “this way,” and started leading him down the hall, only glancing back once to make sure that he was trailing along.

Taking a last look over his own shoulder to make sure nobody had noticed them, Bellamy took a breath, licked his lips and then started after her, hand hovering near his baton and ready for action. Three hallways were behind them before either spoke, and it was Bellamy who broke the silence, his anxiety curling a tight fist around his heart as the worry for his sister remained undamped.

“How much further?”

“We’re almost there.” Clarke assured him. After one more turn she proved it, coming to a stop before she nudged her chin toward a door, the word’s ‘MAINTENANCE ONLY’ inscribed in bold white letters. “She’s in here.”

 Bellamy couldn’t sense a trap, but he couldn’t quell his suspicions either. “What’s she doing in a closet?” He asked, trying to get a feel for the situation just in case this wasn’t what it seemed.

“ _Hiding_?” Clarke answered, eyes wide as if she couldn’t believe the question, her eyebrows lifted right along with her tone and sarcasm dripping from every letter of her one-word response.

“Just making sure this isn’t some setup,” he felt the need to explain as she stared at him in the same disapproving way his mother so often did. “That’s all.”

“Bellamy?” A muffled voice called out from the other side of the door, and at the sound of Octavia’s voice, all of his misgivings melted into relief.

He yanked the door open to find his sister sitting here, arms crossed and blinking against the sudden intrusion of florescent hall light. Bellamy grinned at the sight, and a heartbeat later, after her vision adjusted, Octavia did the same just before launching herself up and into his arms for a tight hug, all the tension leaving both their bodies for that single moment of respite. She was safe, and they hadn’t been caught. Of course that tension returned a second later in the form of Clarke Griffin clearing her throat, drawing both their eyes.

“We probably shouldn’t be standing out in the hall like this.” She stated, as if Bellamy couldn’t have come up with the same realization without her. “The guards aren’t all back at their posts yet.”

“I know.” Bellamy snapped with an annoyed frown.

“Then you know we need to get moving.” Her tone of voice dared him to argue, and oh did Bellamy want to do just that as she stared up at him with a face so ostentatious he might have called her a queen.

“ _We_  don’t need to do anything,” he replied, flicking a finger back and forth between him and Clarke so she’d understand that no matter what she might have just done, she wasn’t part of some secret group now. “ _You_  need to go back to the party and  _we’ll_  be on our way.”

Clarke’s mouth fell open and the space between her eyebrows pinched together, probably because she’d never gone unappreciated before, Bellamy mused, but before the girl could express her incredulity Octavia elbowed him in the side and made an effort to shame him. “Don’t be so rude Bell; she saved our butts back there.”

“She didn’t do anything but almost get herself in trouble.” He argued, unwilling to express gratitude in the face of his own failings, even if that realization hadn’t dawned on him yet. All he could see behind eyes clouded with mistrust was some upper-echelon Machiavelli trying to weasel out a future favor or two. After all, his mother used the same tactics to get what she wanted.

“What she did was keep us  _out_  of trouble.” Octavia disagreed, giving a disapproving head shake as she took a step forward to grab Clarke’s hand and give it a squeeze. “Thanks again,” she offered in spite of Bellamy’s assertions.

Clarke smiled at Octavia, all traces of her previous displeasure vanishing with the gesture. “You’re very welcome,” she said, no trace of dishonesty in her voice. Then her eyes slid back up to Bellamy’s, her smile slipping in the opposite direction. “Guess I’ll just go back to the party then and try not to get in any trouble.”

The blonde turned on a dime and walked away, and as soon as she was out of sight Octavia smacked the back of her hand playfully against her brother’s ribs. “No wonder you can never seem to get a girlfriend,” she teased, looking up at him with a smile that made the entire night worthwhile.

Unable to help himself now that the perceived threat was out of reach, Bellamy grinned. “I have enough women in my life causing trouble,” he teased back, “definitely don’t need another.”

With an easy laugh shared between them the two Blakes made their way back to the safety of their apartment, Bellamy grateful that the night didn’t end as badly as it could have, and Octavia having all but forgotten the near-miss entirely. She was walking on cloud nine and already knew that she’d dream of dancing with masked men for the next few weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot happened, I know, but hopefully I can write another one fast enough to make up for that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke gets to the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to wonder if any part of this story will be written while sober. I'm the worst.

Obviously Clarke did _not_ go back to the party. How could she? As she’d turned her back to the pair, the girl had found her curiosity burning so hot there’d be no way to douse it without physically getting hurt, and so she hadn’t even tried. After turning the corner she’d slipped into the shadows of an alcove, waiting to see where they would go so she could follow after. After the risk she’d taken, nobody could blame her for feeling entitled to just a _few_ answers.

Clarke had watched them slip into an apartment not far from the party, just past one of the observation decks, Bellamy leaving again only a few minutes later to return to his duties. Making a flash decision she’d decided to follow him instead, choosing to question him out in the open before digressing to more deceptive tactics. After all, she knew where Octavia called home now, and if need be she’d go there next.

As familiar with the stations as her father (because what girl _didn’t_ like to hang on her dad’s shoulder while he worked on schematics), Clarke managed to make it back to the party before Bellamy. Wells of course checked in on her immediately only to be waved off and told that they’d talk later, Clarke more interested in waiting for the cadet to get back. As soon as he stepped into the room he spotted her, making a point to look away when she offered him a smile. So it would be like that, Clarke considered, crossing her arms as she made her way over to him. She would not be ignored.

“What do you want?” He didn’t even look at her to ask the question, his stare held above and out to the crowd of her dancing peers.

“I _want_ to know what’s going on.”

“Yeah and I want a better reality than this shithole can give.” Bellamy quipped, loud enough so that only she could hear.

“You _owe_ me an explanation.” Clarke insisted, knowing full well that she was pushing her luck but unable to stop it.

“I don’t owe you anything.” His eyes finally met with hers, heavy and full of fire despite how dark they were. She knew then that he wouldn’t budge. She’d get no answers from him.

“Fine.” She kept her tone even, refusing to give him any satisfaction. “Then I guess I’ll just have to find the answers myself.” It wasn’t meant to be a threat exactly, but it sounded just like one after the words left her lips. Apparently Bellamy felt the same way, his eyes narrowing and his mouth thinning.  


He leaned down, dropping his voice to a low whisper. “And I’ll do whatever I have to, to stop you.” He warned. His _was_ a threat.

“Everything okay?” Wells’ voice rose up from out of nowhere, his eyes surveying the situation.

“Everything’s _fine_ Wells,” Clarke couldn’t keep a hint of impatience creeping into her town at the interruption, “I was just—”

“Leaving.” Bellamy finishes for her. “She was just leaving.”

Clarke stared at him hard for a good second or two before giving a nod and agreeing. “Yeah. I was just leaving.” She forced a tight smile for him before turning, now more than ever convinced that she needed to know his secret.

A week passed after that, a week of Clarke keeping an eye out for Octavia, first in her own classes and cafeteria periods, then in the two grades beneath her only there was nothing to find. It didn’t seem to matter where she looked though, she couldn’t find the mysterious Octavia Blake. The girl didn’t seem to exist. She’d even tried a stealthy Q&A with her mom, leaning against the doorway while the older woman did a standard exam.

“Blake?” Abigail Griffin repeated the name, bending a maintenance worker’s wrist up to check for flexibility issues. “From the factory station you said?”

“Mhmm,” Clarke reached up to scratch the back of her neck, lying to her mom an ever uncomfortable feat. “I think her first name was Octavia.”

“Doesn’t sound familiar,” The doctor admitted, “But then again I’m not the only doctor on board. You should check with Dr. Larke. He does rounds out that way; might recognize the name.” Abigail looked up and smiled at her daughter. “I’m she’ll sure appreciate how hard you’re working to find her.”

Not wanting to draw too much attention to the task, Clarke shrugged, keeping her face schooled. “It’s only a book. I think I’ll just drop it off at the lost in found. I wouldn’t want to bother everyone about this. Thanks anyway though mom. See you later.”

“Bye honey.”

A week after that Clarke’s patience had run dry and she found herself standing in front of the apartment Octavia and fled to that night so long ago. She took a deep breath. To knock or not to knock? The need to know was a stone inside her gut, but Bellamy’s warning still ran cold inside her veins. How far would the guy go to protect this girl? He’d been willing to possibly get himself locked up, so Clarke had to assume he was ready to go to great lengths. Still, she’d never given up anything in her life and she wasn’t about to start now. It was late into the evening, hours still before curfew, so whether or not anyone would answer was a big unknown. Steeling her courage anyway, Clarke knocked on the door.

## *

When the knock echoed through the apartment, Octavia felt her heart try to punch a hole through her chest. Nobody ever visited. Nobody ever knocked, not at least without her mother having a fair warning and nobody ever came before either of her family members were home. Her mom was out though and so was Bellamy, and Octavia stared at the door from the table with eyes wide and full of worry. What she _hadn’t_ expected was a second knock, and somebody calling out her name. She _never_ got visitors; she didn’t even exist.

“Octavia?” The voice sounded hollow through the metal. “It’s Clarke, are you—” at this prompt, Octavia bolted from her chair and rushed to the door, ripping it open before she could even consider the consequences of her actions, just to pull the blonde girl inside and slam the barrier shut again.

“ _Shhh_ ,” she insisted, leaning against the door as if others would try to barge their way in at any moment. “You can’t—” Oh what was she doing! “—oh god you shouldn’t _be here_.”

Octavia wrapped herself in a hug and stepped away from the door, away from the girl who had saved her. “I just wanted to check on you.” Clarke said, a thoughtful frown finding her features with ease. “Make sure you were okay.”

“I’m good.” Octavia pressed her lips together but could keep a smile from growing on her face as she turned to face the girl. This was the first visitor she’d ever had. The first person outside of Bellamy and her mom that knew she was even alive! It was new and exhilarating and she had a million questions. Unable and unwilling to put an end to this moment, Octavia let her smile grow to a grin. “Great, actually.” She waved to the table. “Want to sit?”

“Sure.” Clarke followed her to the table, both girls taking a seat across from one another. “So,” the blonde from Alpha station started, eying the brunette, “I looked for you in class; in _all_ the classes actually, but you weren’t…” The sentence trailed off, their eyes locked together.

“But I wasn’t there?” Octavia finished for her and Clarke nodded.

“You,” she hesitated, the revelation hanging heavy on her tongue before she freed it by finishing, “weren’t _anywhere_.”

The grin faded into something sadder, her finger toying with some of the thread laid out across the table’s surface. “Story of my life,” she started. And why shouldn’t she tell the truth, she wondered. Nobody had come pounding on the door to collect her yet, which meant that Clarke had never told a soul about their encounter. If she knew nothing else about the girl across from her, she at least knew that the woman was trustworthy and Octavia needed this. She needed a friend.

“What do you mean?” Clarke asked, giving her space to continue.

“I mean,” Octavia looked up, her eyes finally belaying the weight she carried in her heart, “that I’m _never_ anywhere _._ ” The story fell from her lips easier than she’d ever thought it would, each admission another stone lifted off of her shoulders until she let out a breathy-laugh, trying not to cry. “And so that’s it,” she finished, wiping at her eye before anything could escape. “Guess my fate is kind of in your hands now.”

Clarke let out a heavy breath, having kept quiet for the duration of the amazing story. She lifted her eyebrows up, lips doing the same as she tried to comfort the girl with an expression, words still eluding her. “Wow,” was all she could get out.

“I know right?” Octavia agreed, nodding her head.  It was a heavy burden and she just hoisted it onto Clarke without warning. She didn’t regret doing so, not with how free it made her feel to finally _exist_ outside of this room, but she wasn’t dumb enough to not feel at least a little fear as well.

“If anyone ever found out…”  Clarke started, as if she herself weren’t actually _anyone_ in the scheme of things.

“I’d probably be floated.” The words made her mouth go dry, but it was a hard truth she’d been raised on. She’d be killed, and probably her mom and brother as well for having and harboring her.

There was a long minute of silence as the two girls kept to their own thoughts, Clarke only then apparently realizing the power that she held and how much it might scare the other. “You know I’d never tell anyone right?” She asked, eyes searching Octavia’s. “I mean, I know there’s rules, but it’d be wrong for them to just…” she couldn’t finish the sentence and the harsh reality is adhered to.

Relief was instant and it washed all the lines of worry away. “Thanks.”

Clarke nodded, “of course.”  Another minute stretched out before the need to lighten their conversation rose up and Clarke smirked. “So what do you do all day anyway?”

Octavia snored and rolled her eyes. “Be bored mostly,” she admitted. “But I read a lot, do some sewing for mom, try to do some of the workouts in Bell’s handbook; stuff like that.”

“God that sounds—” the word seemed to elude her, and Octavia could tell that Clarke was trying to comment without being rude so she saved her the effort.

“Awful; I know.” She finished the sentence with a laugh, drawing the other girl in until they were both caught chuckling when the door to the apartment opened.

Both of them turned in tandem to find Bellamy standing in the doorway, his eyes open wide with surprise and his mouth hung open for a half-second just before he asked, “What the hell is going on here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meh, again, sorry for spelling errors and the like. Do feel free to point crap out though and I'll go back and fix stuff. Anyway, hope it's all still okay; there's not a lot of pre-drop ship material to pull from so as things progress personalities will hopefully toe somewhere between where they were in flashbacks on the show, and where they were after getting sent down.
> 
> Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> So... as I said before, no clue whether or not I'll finish this although I have every intention of continuing, and at the risk of sounding like a review whore: the more people who review/like is all the more incentive for me to continue. Otherwise I'm just writing for me and like I said at the start, I already know how this will end so there isn't much intensive for me to kick anything out in a hurry. Regardless of whether people leave kudos or reviews though, I really hope the quality isn't too awful, and I hope you look forward to more.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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